Nantucket annual town meeting approves some capital projects while others fail; budget rises

Nantucket — Town staff on July 12 reported the results of the 2025 annual town meeting and related election votes, saying some large capital asks passed while others failed and the general fund budget increased for the coming fiscal year. Libby Gibson, a town staff presenter, told the Advisory Committee of Nonvoting Taxpayers that the town’s fiscal 2026 budget totals roughly $140.6 million — a 7.33% increase over fiscal 2025 — and that town meeting considered 104 warrant articles this year, grouped into categories such as zoning, general bylaw, real estate and budget-related items. “We had 37 zoning articles,” Gibson said, “and 26 citizen warrant articles.” The committee heard that several high-profile capital items had mixed outcomes. Gibson reported a supplemental construction appropriation for the Tom Nevers bike path of about $6.8 million passed both at town meeting and…